Rabbi Shlomo Aviner and
other senior rabbis are not pleased with the development Monday that Spain may issue passports
to descendants of Jews expelled in 1492.

Walla! reports that Rabbi
Aviner - a highly respected Religious Zionist rabbinical authority and head of
the Ateret Cohanim yeshiva (Torah study academy) - has forbidden Israelis from
obtaining the passports on the grounds that the gesture may be a political ruse
to "make up for" the expulsion of Jews. Rabbi Aviner said that the
Jewish world cannot and should not forgive Spain for the expulsion and
Inquisition.

On March 30, 1492, Spain's
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela decreed that the entire Jewish community of
Spain, numbering some 200,000 people, must leave the country in four months'
time. The Jews' expulsion had been the pet project of the Spanish Inquisition,
headed by Father Tomas de Torquemada, who believed that as long as the Jews
remained in Spain, they would influence the tens of thousands of recent Jewish
converts to Christianity to continue practicing Judaism.

The short time span forced
the Jews to liquidate their homes and businesses at absurdly low prices. By
July 30, the Jews were gone from Spain. After the expulsion, many rabbis
imposed an informal ban forbidding Jews from ever again living in Spain.

The bill to grant Spanish
passports to Israelis as compensation - over 500 years later - has not been
made into law yet and is pending a vote by Spain's Congress of Deputies.

However, the wait has not
prevented the Israeli news media from eagerly publishing the news - and has so
far provoked a number of responses, including from the senior rabbis.

"Spain needs support
at the moment - it is in a very difficult financial situation," Rabbi
Aviner explained Monday. "Suddenly they are courting us and giving us
[dual] citizenship. An Israeli passport is worth more."

He explained further that
the decision to grant Spanish passport is strongly reminiscent of the debate
Israel underwent whether or not to accept reparations from Germany - which it
did. "The Israeli government accepted compensation then, but it was a
matter of saving lives," Rabbi Aviner stated. "Israel was a new, poor
country and needed to create jobs. But today, do we really need their [Spain's]
favors?"

About Spain, the Rabbi
urged the Jewish people to reject the offer. "[Israel is] strong and
healthy, more than they," he said. "I do not see evidence that over
the ages they have done anything to really compensate for the expulsion."

He clarified that true
amendments are not made through "gestures we don't need."

"They really haven't
done any Teshuva [repentance],"
Rabbi Aviner continued. "If they really want to repent, they should at
least stand by our side politically when we are attacked."

He also referred to remarks
the Spanish Prime Minister made during a visit to Israel, claiming that thanks
to the expulsion from Spain, the State of Israel was established. "There
is some truth to that," the Rabbi admitted. "but to phrase it like
that - 'thanks to the expulsion? Is this how you ask for forgiveness?"

Rabbi Haim Druckman,
another leading Religious Zionist figure and the head of Yeshiva Or Ezion,
echoed Rabbi Aviner's sentiments Monday. "Why do we need Spanish
citizenship?," he stated. "We are privileged to have our own country
and we should be proud to be its citizens." Walla! notes
that Rabbi Druckman's own wife would be privy to Spanish citizenship if the
bill passes.

Sephardic Rabbi Eliyahu Abergil,
prominent Dayan (religious judge) and Av Beit Din of the Jerusalem Rabbinical
Court, issued equally sharp criticism against the gesture. "There is an
old Cherem [religious
ban] on returning to Spain" after the expulsion, he explained.

Mission Statement

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